Tray-in-box makes ready-meal convenient and safe to handle when hot

Tray-in-box makes ready -meal convenient and safe to handle when hot

The French company Stoeffler is focusing on convenience and relaunching a bestseller product in a practical and user-friendly box.

Our modern lifestyle-with people constantly on the move and expecting flexibility and practical solutions-has given rise to new consumer eating patterns. Many consumers want their meals to be prepared and consumed without unnecessary bother, and they expect food producers to make the entire process as straightforward as possible.

In 2010, the French market has seen the emergence of a new trend: Boxes with ready meals which are easy to prepare and which do not even require a plate for serving.

At the French company Stoeffler, the ready meal "Choucroute" (or sauerkraut) is one of their best sellers. Stoeffler has therefore decided to launch the classic dish as a box meal, and in so doing inject a breath of fresh air into a market characterized by identical recipes.

Tray-in-box makes ready -meal convenient and safe to handle when hot

The contents of the "Choucroute" box resemble those of traditional sauerkraut with cabbage, sausage, bacon and potatoes, but in small pieces so the customer does not need a knife to eat it. It is then packed in a plastic tray which is enclosed in a carton. And as an added bonus, the pack includes a fork so the dish is absolutely ready to eat.

Advantages of the new packaging include:
• The meal is easy to eat. Two minutes in the microwave, and it is piping hot, ready to eat it straight from the box without having to worry about a plate.

• It is safe to handle. Even though the plastic tray is hot when removed from the microwave, consumers won't burn their fingers as the surrounding paperboard packaging remains cool.

• The packaging looks good. The communication surface is large and attractively designed.

Færch Plast has supplied the plastic tray which holds the meal, and Angot does not rule out the possibility of the tray being used elsewhere in the Stoeffler range.

"In future, we may well develop other products in the same type of packaging," Angot says.

Source: Færch Plast

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